BJ 1611 




PROK J. H. KELLY 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 
611- 

Chap. Copyright No. 

Shelf, ¥ '."2U' 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 




PROF. J. IT. KELLY, 

Secretary and Treasurer of The American School 
of Magnetic Healing. 



THE LAW OF SUCCESS 



BY 



PROF. J. H. KELLY 



TEW, 






37811 




AUG 23 1900 

Copynj tit *ntry 

SECOND COPY. 

Delivered to 

ORDER DIVISION, 
SFP fi KOH 



Copyrighted, 1900, by J. H. Kelly, 
All rights reserved. 



74262 



CONTENTS. 



Page 

Introduction 7 

Chapter 1. Self-Keliance 11 

" 2. Concentration 25 

' * 3. Ambition 34 

" 4. The Will . .... 39 

" 5. Truth 44 

" 6. Economy 56 

" 7. Fear 69 

" 8. Friends, Enemies 77 

" 9. Character 84 

u 10. Debts 95 

" 11. The Choice of an Occupation 114 

Conclusion , 124 



This book is dedicated to the man at the foot of the 
ladder. 



INTRODUCTION. 

Many books have been written upon the sub- 
ject of Success, but to the mind of the writer it 
seems that they have been either too theoretical 
or too practical. 

In the writing of this little volume the happy 
medium has been attempted. Some chapters have 
been devoted to the scientific, or theoretical side 
of the question, and other chapters have been 
given up to the practical side. 

Some may think that the sentences through- 
out the book are too short and terse, but as this is 
a book to be studied, and not simply scanned 
hastily, the author has left it to the reader to 
enlarge upon the ideas advanced. 

Little or no reference has been made to young 
women in the text, but this has been done simply 
for the sake of brevity. 

The rules and principles herein given apply 
equally to both sexes, and the young woman who 



8 INTRODUCTION. 

studies carefully the views of the writer can obtain 
the same beneficial results that are possible to the 
young man. 

A much larger book could have been written, 
and the sayings of noted men could have been 
given by the page, but such a book is more for in- 
teresting readiug than for close study. The 
student is requested to bear this constantly in 
mind while studying this work. 

It will be observed from the very first that the 
book consists of a statement of facts, and not a 
statement of what to do. 

A study of facts will enable one of ordinary 
intelligence to decide upon a course of action. 

If the reader decides for himself what he shall 
do, he is acting upon his own decisions, and will 
be enabled to intelligently follow out his course of 
action, but if he is acting upon the suggestions of 
the author, he is attempting to carry out some one 
else's plans and not his own. 

No man ever became truly successful by carry- 
ing out another man's ideas. 



INTRODUCTION. 9 

The student will at once see the advisability 
of the course the author has taken. 

An understanding of Psychic laws in general 
will prove of incalculable benefit to the seeker 
after Success, and the student is here advised to 
obtain such knowledge if he possibly can. 

A thorough study of Prof. S. A. Weltmer's 
writings will give the knowledge here referred to. 

Too much cannot be said to impress the 
student with the idea that he can accomplish all 
that he desires, if he will but study carefully the 
principles advanced in this work, and then make 
an earnest, determined effort to carry out, in his 
otvn ivay, their teachings. 

There are a great many who succeed in this 
world; still more who would succeed if they knew 
how; but the majority would not take the trouble 
to succeed even if they knew how. 

This book was not written for either the first 
or the last named class, but is intended to point 
out the way to success to those who are willing to 
make the effort, — to pay the price. 



10 INTRODUCTION. 

Many books have been written on this subject, 
but the author does not believe that too much 
literature of this kind can be sent out. 

For this reason was this book added to those 
that have been published. 

With the assertion that anyone can succeed in 
this if he will but try, and that what one has done 
another can do, the author leaves the student to 
the work before Jiim. 

J. H. Kelly. 

Nevada, Mo., Feb. 1, 1900. 



CHAPTER I. 

"Know not, nor ever can, the generous pride 
That glows in him who on himself relies. 

His joy is not that he has got the crown, 
But that the power to win the crown is his." 

Shakespeare. 

" Self-distrust is the cause of most of our failures. 
In the assurance of strength there is strength; and they 
are the weakest, however strong, who have no faith in 
themselves." 

JBoyee. 



Of all the afflictions of mankind, poverty, or a 
condition closely approaching it, is the most 
common. 

Poverty is always near us, always has been, 
and probably always will be, but this does not 
signify that every man has not the power to avoid 
this, one of the most dreaded of earthly conditions. 

In writing a book upon this subject, the author 
has found that it is a subject of unlimited extent 
and is difficult to treat, not because of a dirth of 



12 LAW OP 

something to say, but because it is so easy to say 
too much. 

Anything that promises to bring success, or 
that seems to point out the way will always be in 
demand by those who have failed in their under- 
takings. 

A few years ago the writer was in poor cir- 
cumstances, barely able to make both ends meet, 
and the outlook was dark indeed. After a long and 
careful study he decided that he could make a 
success, and that nothing but death itself should 
prevent him from having the means to enjoy the 
luxuries of life. 

No thought of questionable methods entered 
his mind, for he had decided that an honest, open 
policy was the course to pursue. In three years 
he had made a success that was the wonder of the 
community in which he lived, and was the partner 
in a business that has astonished the world. 

The principles underlying the effort which re- 
sulted in such success, are stated in this book, and 
if followed conscientiously will bring success to 
every one who attempts it. 



SUCCESS. 13 

Humanity at large has been hunting for the 
key to success since the creation, but as yet no set 
of rules, no formulae, has been advanced which 
will bring success to one and all, upon the applica- 
tion of such rules. 

Nothing can be stated that will bring wealth, 
or success, at once and without labor and fore- 
thought. The reader, if he holds such ideas, must 
relinquish them at once and begin again. 

One of the greatest financiers of this country, 
stated that he believed any young man possessing 
ordinary intelligence, could acquire wealth if he 
would. 

This statement may at first seem too broad; 
the reader may imagine that this man, possessing 
wealth and power, looking back over his achieve- 
ments, over-rates the powers of the masses; but 
he does not; his statement is as true as truth itself. 

Never before in the history of the world has 
there been such a demand for skilled labor, and 
for first-class men to fill the different positions in 
the commercial world. 

Yet there is more complaining in regard to 



I LAW OP 

hard times, more men out of work, and more men 
starving at the present time than most people have 
any idea of. 

Why is this? 

What is wrong? For something must be 
wrong. 

We read of the lives of successful men, and 
we are for the time being inspired with new hopes, 
new desires and new resolutions; but they soon 
pass away and leave us as before. 

Thousands may read the biography of a suc- 
cessful man and not one grasp the secret of his 
success; not one understand the underlying prin- 
ciple of his achievements. 

Notwithstanding all this, the laws of life and 
existence are as exact as the principles of mathe- 
matics; nothing comes by chance, nothing is super- 
natural. 

People are every day unconsciously comply- 
ing with the laws governing success, and are 
therefore surprised at their own achievements. 

This is because all laws are self-acting, and 
the powers which they control act regardless of 



SUCCESS. 15 

man's knowledge or ignorance of his compliance. 

The President of the United States started the 
machinery of the Exposition at New Orleans by 
pressing a button, and the result would have been 
the same had he not known that there was such a 
thing as electricity. He complied with the law 
governing electricity, and the power acted. 

A babe crawling upon a table may touch the 
switch of a telegraph line and open the circuit, 
thus completely disabling every instrument on that 
circuit, be it one or one thousand miles in length. 

The law is complied with as effectually as 
though the child were an Edison or a Tesla. 

If the reader complies with the laws govern- 
ing success, either consciously or unconsciously, 
he will be successful in just so far as he complies 
with all of the requirements. 

In order to make success a certainty, a knowl- 
edge of the law is essential, and to an explanation 
of these principles this little work is devoted. 

The first principle to be considered is be- 
lief in one's self, or self-reliance. 

Jesus Christ said, "To him that believeth, all 



16 LAW OF 

things are possible," and no saying of this wonder- 
ful character is more imbued with truth. 

If the reader of this book has not self-reliance, 
he must first of all cultivate this characteristic. 

Every successful man who has a place in 
history, laid the foundation for his success when 
he learned to rely upon himself. 

An investigation of America's great men 
reveals the fact that they were early thrown upon 
their own resources and were forced to rely upon 
themselves. 

A majority of our great men were raised in 
the country; they were forced to work early and 
late, and were compelled to rely upon themselves, 
more than is the youth who is reared amidst the 
rush and turmoil of the city. 

It is for this reason it has become the popular 
idea that to attain success it is necessary to be 
poor in youth, and to be forced to work for a liv- 
ing while young. Even more than this; the idea 
prevails among many that a college education is a 
detriment instead of an aid, simply because so 
many of our great men were self-educated. 



SUCCESS. 17 

All this is by no means true, yet the author is 
compelled to admit that very few seem to be able 
to learn self-reliance unless they are forced to 
practice it. 

Few young men or young women have the 
courage to step out into the world determined to 
fight, unaided, the battle of life, unless they are 
forced to it. 

One does not have to be the child of poor 
parents to be successful or to elevate himself, nor 
study law in order to be a Lincoln. 

One might as well destroy his hearing in order 
to be an Edison, or grow side burns to be a Depew. 

Self-reliance, whether obtained in a palace or 
a hut, will bring the same result — success. 

One of the greatest weaknesses of mankind 
is self condemnation, or man's belief in his own 
weakness. 

How often is heard the expression, "I wish I 
could do that," or "I wish I was as smart as he." 

Wishes never brought a man anything. A wish 
is a statement admitting a weakness, or the ina- 
bility to attain a certain result. 



18 LAW OF 

If men would think, and rely upon their own 
thoughtful decisions, failures would be few, and 
successes many. 

All things are possible to the intelligent mind. 

When Stevenson said that he could build an 
engine that would run twenty-five miles an hour, 
he was laughed to scorn; the first steamboat was 
called "Fulton's Folly,' 1 and one hundred years 
ago if a man had said that the time would come 
when we should have machines that talked, he 
would have been called a lunatic. 

Nevertheless, Stevenson's engine ran thirty 
miles an hour on its trial trip; Fulton's steamboat 
was a success; Edison invented the phonograph 
and to-day trains are hurled over the rails at a 
rate of from sixty to one hundred miles per hour; 
ihe ocean grayhounds cross the Atlantic in one- 
tenth the time formerly required, and thousands 
of machines are made every day that laugh, talk, 
whistle and sing. 

All these achievements were possible because 
these men dared to think and to rely upon the 
conclusions of their thoughts. 



SUCCESS. 19 

If Edison had believed that a talking machine 
was an impossibility, he never would have invent- 
ed the phonograph; if Fulton had believed his 
ideas erroneous, he would have used a sail boat all 
his life. 

There are few original thinkers in the world, 
when the enormous number of people who imag- 
ine they think, are taken into consideration. 

Reader, do you run over some one else's 
thoughts, and imagine that you are thinking? 

Think, don't think you think! 

The materialist says, "There can be no prin- 
ciple to success other than hard work " 

Work has much to do with success, but work 
alone never made any man a success. 

The hardest working people in this or any 
other country are those who are struggling for 
their very existence. Thousands of people are 
working ten hours a day at trades that require 
every particle of physical energy they can give, 
and yet they have barely more than the actual 
necessities of life. 

What these people should do is to think. 

(2) 



20 LAW OP 

Seventy-five per cent of the masses labor 
along from day to day, with no other purpose than 
that of doing well the day's work of their position. 
This is all wrong, and success will never come 
while they continue to follow such a policy. 

The average young man in business is noth- 
ing more than an automaton. He comes to his 
office at nine o'clock in the morning; is faithful in 
the duties he performs; goes to lunch at twelve, 
comes back at one, takes up whatever he is re- 
quired to do, until five, and then goes home. 

His work for the day is done. One day is the 
same to him as another; he has a certain routine 
of duties to perform and he does them, day in and 
day out, month in and month out. 

No special fault can be found with his work. 
If he is given a particular piece of work to do, he 
does it mechanically, just as a machine would. 

Such a young man generally considers him- 
self overworked and underpaid, wondering all the 
time why he is not given a rise in salary. 

He never thinks beyond his immediate sur- 
roundings. ~ He never studies carefully the prin- 



SUCCESS. 21 

ciples of the business in which he is engaged, 
with the intention of understanding thoroughly 
how they are applied. 

If he were called upon to fill the position next 
above him, he would require some one to explain 
its details before he could fill it successfully. 

He works for months, perhaps years, for the 
same employer, and yet in all that time never ad- 
vances an idea to his employer; if he does it may 
be worse than nothing, because he advances it be- 
fore he considers it carefully. 

Employers are hunting for men with ideas; 
men who work with their heads more than they 
do with their hands. 

The reason people do not think more is be- 
cause they doubt themselves, and when a way of 
doing a thing occurs to them that is strikingly 
original, they are afraid to trust their thoughts 
and they give up the idea entirely. After a time 
ideas cease to come, and the man becomes a living, 
breathing machine. 

Every man could govern the circumstances 
surrounding him if he but dared to think so. 



22 LAW OF 

If it is true that "To him that believeth all 
things are possible, " it is equally true that to him 
that does not believe, nothing is possible. 

No man ever succeeded in doing a thing that 
he really believed he could not do, because if he 
had believed such a thing, he would not have 
made the attempt. 

There must be some belief accompanying 
every effort. 

Christ condemned more than anything the 
crime of unbelief. 

Reader, do not condemn yourself, but try to 
bring yourself into a realization of your power, 
and all things will be added unto you. The power 
that adds all things to you is the same that cures 
disease, that created the heavens and the earth, 
that created man. 

It is the one power, the one creative force in 
the universe. 

All effort is preceded by thought; every ac- 
tion is the material expression of a thought; hence, 
if the thoughts be of doubt, if the thinker is not 
sure that he is correct in his conclusions or is not 



SUCCESS. 23 

willing to rely upon them, his actions are corres- 
pondingly influenced, and will of themselves be 
executed with hesitancy. 

Emerson says, "To believe your own thought, 
to believe that what is true for you in your own 
private heart, is true for all men, — that is genius. " 

There is an old saying, that "Familiarity 
breeds contempt," and while the application may 
seem crude, the writer believes it forcible. Man 
being associated with himself constantly, and be- 
ing constantly formulating ideas, be they good or 
bad, becomes in time imbued with a form of con- 
tempt for his own ideas. He dismisses without 
consideration his thoughts because they are his, 
when perhaps if they had been advanced by a 
Webster, a Jefferson, a Spurgeon, or a Moody, he 
would have hailed them with raptures of delight. 

Man in his infancy is not so. 

Where can we find more confidence in his own 
ideas, than in the youth who is just entering into 
manhood? 

He sees his way clear to fame and fortune, 
and builds air castles of wondrous beauty; but 



24 LAW OP 

alas, how often is this spirit of belief in self de- 
stroyed by those who are, of all persons, the ones 
to encourage and applaud such sentiments, — the 
parents. 

Many a strong and noble character has been 
forced back until its possessor has become as other 
men — an average man. 

Every man comes to this conclusion at some 
time in his life, but, alas, it is generally too late, 
and he is forced to look back at the opportunities 
he has missed, and to see others more self-reliant 
than he, reaping the harvest of success, grown 
from the seeds which he himself once had the 
opportunity of sowing. 

Every man to be successful must know him- 
self; he must study himself as he would the char- 
acter of another. 

There are thousands of people who have more 
friends, so called, than they know what to do 
with; but are not even acquainted with themselves. 



CHAPTER II. 

"The one prudence in life is concentration; the one 
evil is dissipation; and it makes no difference whether our 
dissipations are coarse or tine. 

"Everything is good that takes away one plaything 
and delusion more, and sends us home to add one stroke of 
faithful work. " Emerson. 

"Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids 
look straight before thee." 

"Turn not to the right hand nor to the left."— Pro- 
verbs, 

"The man who-seeks one thing in life, and but one, 
May hope to achieve it before life be done; 
But he who seeks all things, wherever he goes, 
Only reaps from the hopes which around him he sows, 
A harvest of barren regrets." 

Owen Meredith. 



Without concentration there can be no power. 
A single sunbeam has of itself little heat, but 
when many of these beams are concentrated by- 
means of a sun glass, intense heat is the result; a 
single thread has of itself little strength, but when 



26 LAW OP 

many threads are twisted together a cable of 
wonderful strength may be made. 

In war the successful general is he who can 
concentrate his forces, thus bringing to bear upon 
a single point the entire energy of his army; in 
business the successful man is he who can con- 
centrate his mind and energy upon a single task; 
it is he who has one objective point; he who is 
striving with a singleness of purpose. 

The power of the human mind when all its 
energy is brought to bear upon a single idea, is 
marvellous. 

Few have the power of concentration to any 
extent. If the reader imagines he can concentrate 
his mind upon a single idea for one minute's time, 
let him try. If he succeeds in driving from his 
mind all thoughts other than the one desired, he 
is indeed fortunate, and possesses the power of 
concentration more completely than the average 
individual. 

This power can be acquired with practice, and 
must be possessed to some extent by all success t'ul 



SUCCESS. 27 

thinkers, and all successful thinkers are success- 
ful men. 

Who has not at times, when attempting to un- 
ravel some knotty problem, become engrossed in 
the work in hand and solved the question at once? 

What school boy has not, when studying, at 
times found himself in a condition in which he 
could accomplish more in thirty minutes than he 
could ordinarily accomplish in three hours? This 
is because, without knowing how it came about, 
the thinker succeeded in concentrating his mind 
better than he usually could. 

The possibilities of the human mind, when 
working under perfect concentration, are awe in- 
spiring. 

In practicing concentration the student should 
concentrate his mind upon thoughts which are 
common to him; that is, thoughts which apply to 
his daily life. It is difficult enough, at first, to 
concentrate the mind upon the most simple ideas, 
to say nothing of the difficult ones. 

It is easy enough to choose the best idea if the 
student will but allow his mind to wander for a 



28 LAW OF 

few minutes, wholly free from restraint, for the 
mind will soon choose a subject for itself and the 
student will, almost before he realizes it, be think- 
ing of one single thing; the difficult part is then 
at hand, viz. , the continuing of this concentration. 
But practice makes perfect, and success will 
surely crown the efforts of the persevering student. 

This is distinctly an age of specialists, and the 
world is demanding more and more each day that 
those who attempt to succeed devote their time 
and attention to some particular thing. 

No man or woman can hope to succeed in this 
day of sharp competition, and do many things 
fairly well, but nothing better than hundreds of 
others. 

The man who can do something better than 
any one else can, may fix his price and the world 
will gladly pay it. 

Concentration of energy, be it ever so little, 
upon one particular thing, will bring material re- 
sults in a very short time. 

In order to know some one thing well, will 
usually require the entire time of the individual, 



SUCCESS. 29 

and this moans that many things which we would 
like to knew must go unlearned; but the success 
fill man of this day and age must be possessed of 
the courage to admit his ignorance of many things, 
A study of the great characters of history reveals 

this. 

Many of the world's greatest musicians were 
ignoramuses when separated from their music; on 
the other hand, some o\' our greatest statesmen 
detested music, knowing nothing of it, and caring 
less. Pew of the world's greatest writers would 
make even ordinary mathematicians, and Edison 
could not write fiction if he tried, and ho probably 

would not t vy if be could. 

Thoro is too much to ^^' learned In each imli 
vidua] lino of work to waste time on all; do not 

try to be an "all around man"; the world is full of 
them. 

Another trait that is characteristic of tin* sue 
cossful man is pcrseveivuce. 

One of nature's immutable laws is, that what 
docs not work must decay. 

Stagnation in the business world means ruin. 



30 LAW OF 

The business men of to-day do not stand still; they 
either go forward or backward; they either suc- 
ceed or fail; they cannot do otherwise, for there is 
no "half way" station in business; every under- 
taking is either a success or a failure. 

A true business man never allows a proposi- 
tion to come to him if he can help it, he goes to 
meet it. 

General Grant said, "The advantage is always 
with the attacking party, ' ' and this is equally true 
of a business venture. 

The author has often thought when walking 
along a crowded thoroughfare in a large city, 
filled with the rush and roar of ceaseless traffic, of 
the small chance of success which seems to be the 
lot of all the people that go to make up the im- 
mense crowd; of how every one present is engag- 
ed in the same struggle, the struggle for success. 
Each and every one hurrying along with the same 
purpose in mind, the attainment of some desired 
end, either wealth, or fame, or something else. 

But upon careful consideration he realizes 
that all could be successful if they could but un- 



SUCCESS. 31 

derstand the few principles which underlie the 
successful attainment of that for which they strive. 

Of all the principles which go to make up suc- 
cess, perseverence is one of the most important. 

As the constant dripping of water wears away 
the stone, so the constant striving for success will 
ultimately tear down the barriers between the as- 
pirant and the goal toward which he is striving. 

Few men attain success by one mighty effort, 
but they generally win their way step by step, and 
the world takes no notice of them until suddenly 
it realizes that the laborer is a successful man. 

It is because of this sudden recognition that 
many imagine that success is gained by one mas- 
terly effort. 

Many people think that Admiral Dewey at- 
tained success in a single day, the day he sunk the 
Spanish fleet at Manilla, but he did nothing of the 
kind; he made the world recognize his success by 
that day's glorious achievement, but his success 
was built up day after day, month after month, 
year after year. Without the most pains-taking 
effort, extending over the best part of his life, 



32 LAW OP 

such an achievement would not have been possible. 

The average person is prone to look upon the 
final achievement only, without taking into consid- 
eration the preparation that must invariably pre- 
cede it. 

There are thousands of men who have said 
"How I wish I could do something like that, " and 
yet if all the labor and time that Dewey spent in 
preparing himself for his crowning achievment 
could be spread out before them, probably less 
than a half dozen would be willing to undertake a 
similar task if they had the opportunity. 

How often when at a concert given by some 
great master, has the writer heard the expression, 
"How I wish I could play like that." The person 
expressing such a wish had in mind no more idea 
of the time and labor that would be necessary to 
the attainment of such skill than a ten year old 
school boy. 

How many of the school girl pianists of the 
day would be willing to devote the time to the 
piano that List, Rubenstein, Tausig or Mozart did? 

How many men would make the effort and 



success. 33 

endure the ridicule that fell to the lot of Cyrus W. 
Field, when he conceived the idea of a submarine 
cable, formulated his plan, and carried it out? 

In the author's opinion there would be com- 
paratively few, if they could realize fully what was 
before them. 

There is nothing cheap about success, and the 
successful man must pay the world an equivalent 
in some form or other. 

Every man can make a success if he will but 
pay the price. 

If the reader possesses even ordinary ability, 
he can make his mark in the world if he will 
devote his time and effort to some single purpose, 
no matter what it may be. 

To choose some one thing and never leave it 
until it is completed, never doubting the ultimate 
result, means concentration, perseverence, self- 
reliance; and these mean success. 



CHAPTER III. 

" Did you ever hear of a man who had striven all his 
life faithfully and singly toward an object, and in no 
measure obtained it? If a man constantly aspires, is he 
not elevated? Did ever a man try heroism, magnanimity, 
truth, sincerety, and find there was no advantage in them, 
—that it was.a vain endeavor? 1 ' 

Thokeau. 

"Whoever is satisfied with what he does, has reached 
his culminating point — he will progress no more. Man's 
destiny is to be not dissatisfied, but forever unsatisfied. " 

Robertson. 



Ambition is a real desire to attain a certain 
end. Many capable men are failures simply 
because they have no real desire to succeed. 

The world never forces a man to be successful; 
sometimes it does force a man to be wealthy, but 
when it does it sends a punishment. 

Ambition is the mother of Labor, and without 
one the other can not be. 

Ambition encourages and leads the struggler 
on. As soon as one thing has been accomplished. 



success. 35 

ambition points out another a step in advance, so 
that the ambition of one day may be gratified the 
next, but so soon as gratified it is supplanted by 
another. 

As soon as a man becomes perfectly contented 
with what he has, or is, he begins to retrograde. 

So soon as every desire or ambition is satisfied, 
there is nothing to live for. 

We are always striving for that which we do 
not possess, and when we attain it the novelty is 
soon gone, and the desire is manifested for some- 
thing else. 

This is as it should be, for in this way man is 
led onward and upward, each attainment being a 
step in the ladder that will ultimately reach to a 
grand success. 

Hope is also a part of Labor. 

Without hope a man is in a condition worse 
than death. He is ready to commit suicide, he is 
ready for the insane asylum. 

One of the brightest young men the writer 
has ever met, a young man who is still in his 
twenties, and who has made a greater success than 

(3) 



36 LAW OF 

many men attain in a life time, said: ' 'Without hope 
I could not exist a day; I am constantly looking- 
forward with hope to something, no matter how 
trivial it may be, and when I have nothing to look 
forward to I shall die " Here is a spirit of hope 
that it would be well for all of us to have, for with 
it success is almost certain. 

No one can strive for something if he has no 
hope of attaining it; without hope, no effort; with- 
out effort, nothing. 

Honesty is another characteristic feature of 
success. 

Many people are honest to others, but are not 
so to themselves. "To thine own self be true, 
then it must follow as does the night the day, 
thou canst not then be false to any man." 

Many men will sacrifice anything to keep a 
promise made to another person, but will make 
promises to themselves and break them again and 
again. 

This will in time lead to a contempt for prom- 
ises, and this condition means invariably, failure 
and disgrace. 



success. 37 

To others the successful business man must be 
honest, he must be careful and upright in his deal- 
ings, for if he is not, others will be dishonest with 
him, and no man can conduct a successful business 
and deal with dishonest men. 

Honest men, who are truly honest, that is, 
honest to themselves, are not so plentiful as they 
might be, and were there a way of ascertaining the 
honesty of every one, we might need Diogones and 
his lantern, even at this late day. 

Questionable methods are seldom successful, 
although for a time they may seem so. 

The speculator, no matter how successful, in- 
variably is pushed to the wall. 

"Old Hutch," a well known member of the 
Chicago Board of Trade, who at one time con- 
trolled almost whatever he chose, was running a 
cigar stand when he died. 

Young Leiter, who a short time ago attempted 
to corner the wheat market, retired after losing an 
immense fortune. 

Gamblers rarely die rich. 

Men who attain wealth suddenly are seldom 



38 LAW OP 

able to stand their sudden prosperity, and usually 
die poor. 

Unless wealth is the result of honest effort, it 
seldom brings with it happiness and true prosper- 
ity. 



CHAPTER IV. 

'•The truest wisdom is a resolute determination." 

Napoleon. 

"When a firm, decisive spirit is recognized, it is curi- 
ous to see how the space clears around a man and leaves 
him room and freedom." John Foster. 

"People do not lack strength, they lack will." 

Victor Hugo. 

"He who has resolved to conquor or die is seldom con- 
quered; such noble despair perishes with difficulty." 

CORNEILLE. 

"In idle wishes fools supinely stay; 
Be there a will, and wisdom finds a way." 

Crabbe. 



The will is the executor of the mind. It exe- 
cutes the plans that have been formulated in the 
mind, thus transforming an immaterial thought 
into a material result. 

The great men of the world, with but very 
few exceptions, have been the possessors of in- 



40 LAW OF 

domitable wills, yet strictly speaking they had no 
stronger wills than other men. 

The expression, "a strong or a weak will," is 
technically wrong; there is no such thing as a 
strong or a weak will; the strength of one's will 
consists in the dependence placed upon it. 

The man who relies upon his will, who trusts 
it, is what the. world calls a strong willed man. 

The man who does not rely upon his will, who 
is afraid to trust it, is said to be weak willed. 

This brings us back to the first principle of 
success, self-reliance. 

Any one with the proper training can become 
strong willed, for any one can be taught to rely 
upon his will. 

In order to make a resolution and keep it, the 
student must dismiss from his mind the resolution 
when it is made, and consider it settled; he must 
not return to it again. 

As soon as a man begins to consider, to think 
about his resolution, he is in imminent danger of 
breaking it. 



SUCCESS. 41 

There is a saying that " When a woman 
hesitates, she is lost;" and it is equally true of men. 

The student who is attempting to learn how to 
rely upon his will should, at first, make resolutions 
that are not too difficult to keep. He should dis- 
miss the thought of the resolution from his mind, 
and should never under any circumstances, allow 
himself to think over it again; he should get some- 
thing to do that will occupy his whole mind, and 
should thus drive all thought of his determination 
from his mind. 

He can gradually increase the difficulty of his 
resolutions, until his will power will no longer be 
undeveloped, but he will be able to make almost 
any determination he chooses, and still make it 
without fear of breaking it. 

Napoleon, the incomparable general, im- 
mortalized himself by his memorable and master- 
ful statement on the summit of the Alps, when con- 
fronted by all of his engineers and told by them 
that there was no way possible to cross the 
mountains. He said, " I will either find a way, or 
make one." 



42 LAW OF 

With such determination as this anyone can be 
what he chooses, for nothing can stop him; he will 
either find a way or make one. 

The world cannot successfully resist such will 
power. 

All achievements worth accomplishing, are 
surrounded by obstacles that offer a greater or 
lesser degree of resistence, according to the great- 
ness of the achievement; but this is necessary, for 
without resistence there is no force; one must exist 
that the other may act. 

The will is one of the factors of thought; as 
was stated before it is that which materializes the 
thought; it is the real man. If all men could but 
realize that they are equals, so far as their latent 
powers are concerned, what a different world this 
would be. 

Prof. Weltmer said: " I do not claim for my 
self a single virtue or power that I do not concede 
to all other men." 

' k I do not concede to any other man any virtue 
or power, that I do not claim for myself. " 

The student should study that saying until he 



success. 43 

knows every word in it; until it is written in letters 
of fire upon his mind. He should repeat it 
twenty, forty, a hundred times a day, until he be- 
comes filled with the thought that pervades it. 

Any man who can repeat that saying and feel 
in his heart that he can say it is true of himself, is 
already a success, or very soon will be. 

" I can" is one of the most glorious expres- 
sions that can fall from the lips of man, and is sur- 
passed in grandeur by one other only, — "I will." 

The expression " I can't" is one of the most 
degrading expressions that can be conceived of. 

It is the pass word leading into the city of 
Destruction; it is the distinguishing brand upon 
every failure; it is an expression that is unknown 
in the vocabulary of a successful man. 

A man who has learned to rely upon himself, 
who believes in and trusts himself, can no more 
say "I can't" than fire and water can exist at the 
same time in the same place. 



CHAPTERS. 

" Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make 
you free.''— John 8:32. 

"The highest compact we can make with our fellow is, 
"Let there be truth between us evermore." The man that 
stands by himself, the universe stands by him also." 

Emerson. 

"They must upward still, and onward 
Who would keep abreast of Truth." 

Lowell. 

"Enthusiasm is the genius of sincerity, and truth 

accomplishes no victories without it." 

Lytton. 



Truth is mighty, but falsehood is weak. 

The man who knows the truth has a power to 
aid him; the man who believes a falsehood to be 
the truth, has a millstone about his neck. 

" Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall 
make you free. ■ ' Free from sickness, from sin, 
from poverty or whatever else tends to drag men 
down. 



success. 45 

It is essential that max], in order to succeed, 
must tell the truth to others, and must know when 
others are telling him the truth, if he intends to 
act upon what they tell him. 

Some people find it hard to tell the truth at all 
times and under all circumstances, because they 
think they will lose by it. This is never the case, 
although it is sometimes hard to realize it. In the 
end it always pays to tell the truth. 

Upon careful investigation the author is com- 
pelled to state that not one man in a hundred 
really knows how to tell the truth. 

This is a startling statement, and will doubt- 
less cause much thought in the minds of many, but 
the more carefully considered, the more deeply 
convincing becomes the evidence. 

Many good and honest people tell falsehoods 
every day without knowing it; they believe they 
are telling the truth, and of course do not then 
antagonize their consciences, nevertheless they 
are telling something that is untrue. 

Believing that you are telling the truth, and 



46 LAW OF 

telling the truth, are extremes that are nearly as 
far apart as falsehood and truth. 

There is only one way to tell the truth, and 
that is to tell what you know, and not ivhat you 
believe. 

What a different world this would be, if 
every one understood and practiced the principle 
of that rule ! 

The principle underlying that rule is knowl- 
edge, and knowledge is power. 

There is no power in belief. 

A man may believe a falsehood just as easily 
as a truth, but if he acts upon his belief, in one 
case he will fail, in the other he will succeed. 

Some writer has said: "Folly and error, what- 
ever their garb, contain the seeds of their own 
dissolution. Truth alone in every form, contains 
within itself the seeds of eternal life." 

All erroneous beliefs must eventually fall, it 
matters not how potent they may be for a time. 

No matter how capable a man may be, no mat- 
ter how energetically he may push his enterprises, 
no matter how Fortune may seem to favor him at 



success. 47 

first, unless the principles of his business are 
based upon truth, and his manner of conducting it 
based upon knowledge, he is destined to failure. 
There can be no other result. 

Millions of people all over the world are act- 
ing upon their beliefs, but not upon knowledge. 

This being the case, there can be but one re- 
sult, millions of failures, and these we have. 

Half of the young men who graduate from 
our great universities believe they have an educa- 
tion, but they do not know it. 

They have studied principles and rules, and 
believe that they know them to be true; but they 
do not, for they have taken the word of the author 
or the teacher, and have not proved for themselves 
the truth or falsity of the proposition; hence, so 
long as they act upon these principles they are 
acting upon belief, and their feet, instead of rest- 
ing upon the solid rock of knowledge, are on the 
quicksands of belief. 

It is a well known fact that thousands of col- 
lege graduates are in almost poverty-stricken cir- 
cumstances; not because they have an education, 



48 LAW OP 

but because they think they have. 

They have no knowledge, they have belief. 

There is but one way to know the truth or 
falsity of a proposition, and that is to prove it; 
to try it. 

Christ said: ' 'Therefore, whosoever heareth 
these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken 
him unto a wise man which built his house upon a 
rock. And the rain descended and the floods 
came, and the winds blew and beat upon that 
house, but it fell not; for it was founded upon a 
rock." 

"And every one who heareth these sayings of 
mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a 
foolish man who built his house upon the sand. 
And the rain descended and the floods came, and 
the winds beat and blew upon that house, and it 
fell; and great was the fall thereof. " 

It is clear from this that it is not a mere mat- 
ter of hearing and believing that Christ wanted, 
but it was a matter of doing. 

The result of doing a thing must necessarily 
prove the truth or falsity of its underlying prin- 



success. 49 

ciples, and whether they be true or false the re- 
sult is the same — knowledge. 

It is just as essential to success that we have 
a knowledge of the falsity of a principle as of its 
truth. 

A knowledge of its falsity saves us from error; 
a knowledge of its truth makes us free. 

In either case; knowledge, which is power, is 
the result. 

There is only one way to know anything, 
and that is to try it; not to take some one else's 
word for it, not to watch some one else try it, but 
to try it for ourselves. 

The speculator is working on his beliefs, and 
not his knowledge, hence, he is almost certain to 
fail sooner or later. He is just as likely to act 
upon an erroneous belief as not. 

He has no knowledge until his venture has 
been completed, and then he knows that his prin- 
ciples are either true or false. 

Could he perform the same transaction again, 
he would be perfectly safe, for he would be act- 



50 LAW OF 

ing no longer upon his beliefs, but upon his knowl- 
edge. 

If he did this, however, he would cease to be 
a speculator; he would be running no risks. 

Knowledge does not mean information. 

Knowledge is always of value, because it is 
always truth. 

Information may be true or otherwise, and 
until tried and proven to be true, must not be acted 
upon as knowledge. 

Beliefs are nothing more than things we do jiot 
know. 

A man may believe a thing with his whole 
heart, and know nothing about it; in fact, that in 
which he believes may not even exist. 

Man is a mental creature, and hence his condi- 
tions are all mental conditions. 

His beliefs are real conditions, although his be- 
lief may be of something that does not exist. 

Since man may have erroneous beliefs, it fol- 
lows that he may place himself, by these beliefs, 
in negative conditions. 



SUCCESS. 51 

He may believe he is sick; if he does, he is 
sick. 

He may believe that he is poverty stricken; if 
he does, he is poor, because " As a man thinketh 
in his heart, so is he," said the wisest of all men. 

The materialist who must see, hear, feel, 
taste, or smell a thing before he believes in it, 
laughs at the idea. 

He ridicules those who say that a belief can 
make a condition; that an immaterial idea can 
cause a material condition. 

But Solomon said it was true, and every think- 
er of modern times knows that it is true. 

If A should send a telegram to B that B 's 
father was dead, so long as B believed the tele- 
gram to be true he would experience the same 
depth of grief as he would were his father really 
dead. 

His belief is in a falsehood, but his condition 
is real, and just as real as though he had been told 
the truth. 

The materialist says: "Do you mean to tell 

(4) 



52 LAW OF 

me that death is a belief; that if I believe I am dead 
I will be?" 

Certainly; death is nothing more than the 
material result of a belief, just as sickness is. 

A man may say "Well, I will just believe I am 
dead, and we shall see how true your theory is." 

There is not one chance in a million that he 
can believe such a thing all at once, but if he could, 
he would be dead and would fill a suicide's grave, 
although he would not be termed a suicide by the 
world at large. 

Thousands of people bring about this condi- 
tion without knowing that they are really com- 
mitting suicide. 

They believe themselves sick, and gradually 
believe themselves worse, and finally believe 
themselves to death. 

All these beliefs manifest themselves in a 
material way, and of course are real. 

If a man believes in a truth he is all right, but 
he is just as liable to believe in an error. 

The only safe plan is to prove the truth of all 



success. 53 

the propositions that confront him, when he no 
longer believes, but knows. 

Scientists term a belief in a truth, a positive 
belief, and a belief in an error, a negative belief. 

Positive beliefs lift man up; they carry him 
forward; they crown him with success. 

Negative beliefs drag man down; they force 
him backward; they crush him with failure. 

Knowledge and knowledge alone can save man. 

First a belief, then knowledge; one follows as 
a natural consequence, but alas too many never get 
beyond the first. 

When once a man has succeeded a little, he 
begins to believe that he has the power to suc- 
ceed; he has a little faith in himself. 

As he begins to believe in himself, the belief 
begins to materialize; he arouses within himself the 
latent powers which lie dormant within every 
human being, and he draws to himself those condi- 
tions which mean success; in short, lie succeeds. 

Thousands refuse to believe this, and there- 
fore thousands fail. Because man refuses to be- 



54 LAW OF 

lieve that his thoughts can and will make him suc- 
cessful, he fails. 

The successful man never accepts a thing as 
true until he has proven it to be so; he assumes it 
to be true, and then by trial proves its truth or 
falsity. 

The result, whether the assumption proves to 
be true or false, is knowledge, and knowledge is 
power. It makes the experimenter more powerful 
than he was before. 

If the reader could but realize that a thorough 
study of these principles will do more to make him 
successful than anything else he can do, he will be 
indeed fortunate, for man as a rule is so intensely 
material in his ideas of success, that unless he is 
instructed to labor or do some other material 
thing, he will not believe. 

Labor is necessary, but, as has been stated, 
labor alone never made any man a success. 

Every man must answer the question, "Am I 
to succeed or fail?" 

No one can answer these questions for another, 
no matter how much they may wish to do so. 



success. 55 

"Every man is the architect of his own for- 
tune." 

While he may obtain aid in building it after his 
success has been planned, he alone must decide its 
extent and its proportions. 



CHAPTER VI. 

"They call thee rich, I call thee poor, 
Since if thou darest not use thy store, 
But savest it only for thine heirs, 
The treasure is not thine but theirs." 

Cowper. 

"Can wealth give happiness? Look around and see 
what gay distress, what splendid misery." 

Young. 

"A thirst for gold, the beggar's vice, 
Which can but overwhelm the meanest hearts." 

Byron. 

4 'The rank is but the guinea's stamp, 
The man's the gowd for a' that." 

Burns. 

"The noblest men who live on earth, 
Are men whose hands are brown with toil, 

Who, backed by no ancestral graves, 
Hew down the woods and till the soil, 

And win thereby a prouder name 
Than follows king's or warrier's fame." 



Economy must be a characteristic of every 
successful man. 



success. 57 

Pew men have the opportunity of getting rich 
without economizing, and those who do not econ- 
omize have not the faculty of deriving the most 
pleasure from their wealth, because they have 
not learned the true value of money. 

While the author does not mean to convey the 
impression that wealth necessarily means success, 
still he believes that in the majority of cases the 
successful man will find himself in comfortable 
circumstances, at least, even though he be not 
striving for money, because men usually receive 
what their services merit, in money or its equiva- 
lent. 

Franklin said: "The way to wealth is as 
plain as the way to market. It depends chiefly on 
three words — industry, frugality and economy; 
that is, waste neither time nor money, but make 
the best use of both. Without industry and fru- 
gality nothing will do, and with them everything." 

An observance of this rule will bring wealth 
to any man, but it is easier said than done, and 
many may try to follow it and fail because of lack 
of will power. 



58 LAW OF 

A time will come when it will seem almost im- 
possible to save anything, and the seeker for 
wealth will break the rule. 

This must not be, for once done, like every- 
thing else, it will be easier done the second 
time. 

It is easy enough to save during prosperity; 
any one can do that, but the successful man is he 
who can save during adversity. 

"Wealth cannot be attained without a struggle. 
No man can start from the depths of poverty and 
tread a path of roses and sunny ease to prosperity. 

P. T. Barnum said: "The way to get rich is 
quite simple; all you have to do is to spend less 
than you earn, and shun tobacco and rum." 

John D. Rockerfeller, the great Standard Oil 
magnate, made it a point early in life to save a 
certain per cent, of his earnings, no matter how 
small his earnings might be. 

There is a wise saying which reads: "A fool 
can make money, but it requires a wise man to 
spend it." 



success. 59 

It is not the money one earns, but the money 
tvhich is saved, that makes a man rich. 

The man who receives fifty dollars per month 
and puts ten of it in the bank, is getting* rich, while 
the man who receives one hundred dollars per 
month and spends all of it, is laying the founda- 
tion for a failure and is growing poor every day. 

He is growing poor because he is establishing 
a habit that is ruinous, and when the day of adver- 
sity comes, as come it must, he will not be pre- 
pared. 

Economy is not so generally understood as it 
should be. It means the refraining from buying 
that which is not needed, and the buying of that 
which is best suited for a given purpose. 

It is not economy to buy a thing because it is 
cheap. 

It does not mean the buying of a cheap qual- 
ity of that which is needed, 

It is not economy to buy a second-hand stove 
for half-price, when it is two-thirds worn out. 

The bargain counter is one of the greatest 
enemies to economy in existence. 



60 LAW OP 

A five dollar hat bought for four dollars and 
fifty cents is no bargain if it is not needed. 

It is not economy to deprive one's self of the 
necessities of life in order to save a little money, 
for nature will exact an equivalent, which if not 
paid in money will be paid in some other way. 

It is not always economy to save, hence, to 
economize will require judgment and careful fore- 
thought. 

The average person can economize in the line 
of dress. 

It is a well known fact, which will be sustain- 
ed by investigation, that the American people 
dress far beyond their means. 

The author has had the privilege of traveling 
in foreign countries, and knows from personal ob- 
servation that the American people, as a whole, 
spend a larger per cent, of their earnings for 
dress, than any nation he has ever seen. 

Many young men who receive small salaries 
dress elegantly. 

Many clerks dress better than their employ- 
ers. 



SUCCESS. 61 

This is all wrong; a man should dress well, if 
he possibly can, but not elegantly; he should not 
spend all his spare money in order to keep up with 
some one who can dress well and still not feel the 
expense. 

Thousands of young men are spending every 
cent they can possibly obtain in order to dress well 
and "keep in the swim. " 

They are laying the foundation for failure, 
and when the time comes, later in life, when they 
really need to make a good appearance, when they 
really need a little extra money, they have noth- 
ing. 

The "fad" of being well dressed is growing in 
proportions, every day, and the larger it grows, 
the more young people, and old people too for that 
matter, it will drag down to failure. 

The young man of eighteen or twenty im- 
agines that the whole town in which he lives is 
watching him, and if he does not make an elegant 
appearance he will be disgraced. 

The facts in the case, however, are that not 



62 LAW OF 

one person in a hundred knows whether he is 
dressed well or not. 

The time will come, however, when people 
will notice him, not because of his dress, but be- 
cause, having become a man, he is almost sure to 
do something that will attract the attention of his 
fellows. 

When this time arrives he needs to make a 
good appearance, and it will injure his cause, 
whatever it is, if he does not. 

If he has spent all of his available money, he 
will fail just when he should succeed. 

To some of the readers of this book this may 
seem superfulous or far-fetched, but experience 
and investigation has shown that the habit of 
spending too much for dress, has done almost as 
much to ruin young men as whiskey. 

This may seem a startling statement, but it 
is true. 

It is not the desire of the writer to convey the 
idea that he thinks young people should be 
miserly in the amount they spend upon their 
clothes, but he does believe that ninety-nine per 



success. 63 

cent of the American people can economize better 
in the matter of dress than in any other way. 

All young people should dress neatly, but they 
should dress within their means. 

Little reference is made to old people here, as 
old people have usually learned what folly it is to 
over-dress, and need no instructions along that 
line. 

In order to attain wealth the young man can- 
not act and dress like a rich man before he is one, 
and succeed in business. 

Many young people go to extremes, and the 
writer wishes to warn them from going to the other 
extreme. 

It is almost absolutely necessary that he who 
desires to make a good impression must have a 
good appearance. 

The clothes are not the man, by any means, 
but when a man is among strangers a man is taken 
for what he appears to be, and not what he is. 

This is of necessity true, and is as it should be. 

It is much easier to sustain a good impression, 
once it is made, than it is to destroy a bad one, so 



64 LAW OF 

it behooves the young man to make a good im- 
pression whenever he can. 

A good appearance will be of material assist- 
ance in accomplishing such a purpose. 

While the possession of wealth is considered a 
mark of success, yet it is not always so. 

No man can be a success in life if he be not 
happy. He may be successful as far as his money- 
getting qualities are concerned, but he is not a 
success in the true sense of the word. He may be 
wealthy; but he is not rich. 

Some one has said: "I take him to be a truly 
rich man that lives upon what he has, owes noth- 
ing, and is contented; for there is not a fixed sum 
of money nor quantity of estate that can make a 
man rich, since no man is truly rich that has not so 
much as perfectly satiates Jiis desire of having 
more; for the desire for more is want, and want is 
poverty." 

If the young reader believes that wealth 
necessarily means happiness, and poverty un- 
happiness, he has a belief that he must rid himself 
of, for it will warp his views and thus mislead him. 



success. 65 

Beecher said: "If wealth descends upon 
avarice, does it confer happiness?" 

"It blights the heart as consuming fire ravages 
the prairies. The eye glows with greedy cunning, 
conscience shrivels, the light of love goes out, 
and the wretch moves amidst his coin no better, no 
happier than a loathsome reptile in a mine of gold. " 

There is a contented poverty, in which indus- 
try and peace rule; and a joyful hope which looks 
out into another world where riches shall neither 
fly nor fade. 

The Bible says: "He that hasteth to be rich 
hath an evil eye, and considereth not that poverty 
shall come upon him. " 

This does not mean that man must not make 
the best possible use of his time toward getting 
rich, but it means that he who employes question- 
able methods, who tries "short cuts" to wealth, 
shall come to his day of reckoning. 

When wealth comes gradually to man, giving 
him time to adjust himself to his changed condit- 
ions, it comes as a blessing. 



66 LAW OF 

When it comes in a flood, it is liable to bring 
destruction with it. 

Man requires a little time to adjust himself to 
changing conditions, just as the eye requires a 
short time in which to adjust or focus itself to 
changes of light. 

Covetousness must be avoided, for it leads 
man on in his mad rush for gold. 

It causes man to venture where ruin is sure to 
fall upon him. 

It grows like a weed, and the more received, 
the more is required to satisfy. 

Money is not the root of all evil by any means, 
but the love of money may be. 

It were a thousand times better that a man be 
always poor, than that he become wealthy and 
yet find himself consumed by the desire for money. 

What could be more terrible than to be 
wealthy, in a condition to satisfy every desire, 
and yet find that all desire for that which is good 
and ennobling had passed away, and a desire for 
more money had become the ruling passion? 



success. 67 

Which is the worst condition, the miser or the 
poor man? 

The man who could gratify all good desires, 
who could make the world better because he had 
lived in it but will not, or the man who could do 
all these things but cannot? 

Whether wealth is an advantage or not de- 
pends on the use we make of it. The same, how- 
ever, might be said of other opportunities and 
privileges ; knowledge, strength, beauty and skill 
may all be abused ; if we neglect or misuse them 
we are worse off than if we had never had them. 
Wealth is only a disadvantage in the hands of 
those who do not know how to use it. It gives 
the command of so many other things — leisure, 
the power of helping friends, books, works of art 
opportunities and means of travel. 

It would, however, be easy to exaggerate the 
advantages of money. It is well worth having, 
and worth working for, but it does not require too 
great a sacrifice ; not indeed so great as is often 
offered up to it. If wealth is to be valued because 

(5) 



68 LAW OF 

it gives leisure, clearly it would be a mistake to 
sacrifice leisure in the struggle for wealth. 

Money has no doubt also a tendency to make 
men poor in spirit. But on the other hand, what 
gift is there that is without danger? 

Shelley was certainly not an avaricious man, 
and yet, "I desire money," he said, "because I 
think I know the use of it. It commands labor, it 
gives leisure; and to give leisure to those who will 
employ it in the forwarding of truth is the noblest 
present an individual can make." 



CHAPTER VII. 

"I like the man who fares what he must 

With a step triumphant and a heart of cheer, 

Who fights the daily battle without fear ; 
Sees his hopes fail, yet keeps unfaltering trust 

That God is God ; that somehow, true and just, 
His plans work out for mortals ; not a tear 

Is shed when fortune, which the world holds dear, 
Falls from his grasp ; better with love a crust 

Than living in dishonor ; envies not, 
Nor looses faith in man, but does his best, 

Nor even murmurs at his humbler lot ; 
But with a smile and words of hope, gives zest 

To every toiler ; he alone is great. 
Who by a life heroic conquers fate." 



Many' people are so afraid of being poor, they 
could not become wealthy if they had the chance. 

A constant thought or fear of poverty causes 
one to become passive to it, and as a consequence 
it will come. 

Man always receives that to which he is 
passive, whether it be a desirable or an undesira- 
ble thing. 



70 LAW OP 

Fear is a passive condition ; it causes man to 
receive that which is evil, and never that which 
is good. 

It is a veritable satan, and is more to be 
avoided than any other of mankind's many weak- 
nesses. 

Even in a material way, the reader knows 
that the man who fears is no man at all in the 
hour of trial. 

It destroys all reasoning power ; it paralyzes 
the muscles and what was a man becomes a poor 
shivering being on a plane with the dumb brutes. 

The coward is more degraded than the drunk- 
ard. 

While a man is filled with fear, he can think 
no positive thoughts, he can make no positive 
action. 

Trial comes upon him, and he sinks beneath 
it with scarcely an effort. 

Success is an impossibility to the man who is 
filled with fear. 

Every man has within himself powers lying 



SUCCESS. 71 

dormant, which if called into action, would make 
him a power in the world, and a ruler of men. 

These powers, however, cannot be aroused 
before man believes they are within him. Unless 
he believes that he has the power to do a certain 
thing, he cannot do it, for he does not even know 
how to try. 

' ' If there be any one trait in man that the 
world admires, it is courage. The man who holds 
strong convictions, and is not afraid to voice them, 
always commands respect if not admiration." 

The man who is willing to act on his own con- 
victions will have something to ~act upon, but he 
who acts upon the conviction of another, is worse 
than foolish. 

" The Kingdom of God is within you. " 

Could man ask for more? 

What an unlimited source of power man has 
within himself, of which he thinks so little! 

If he would learn to rely upon these powers 
which are in him, and which always will be, 
although he may never recognize them, his attain- 
ments would be limited by himself only. 



72 LAW OF 

The powers are unlimited and they will ans- 
wer to his call in just the proportion that he calls, 
believing that they will respond. 

There is not a day laborer who digs from morn- 
ing until night to obtain enough to eat, who has 
not the power to rise to the position his employer 
occupies, if he would but believe in himself. 

Thousands of men are laboring every day, who 
do not know what it is to have an original thought. 

They do not see farther than the twenty-four 
hours which makes the day. 

Along toward the latter part of the week they 
may look forward to Sunday, but that is all. 

The policy of the government changes, the 
weather changes, Christmas comes, Fourth of July 
comes, but it makes little difference to the average 
laborer, he has about the same experience all the 
time. 

This is not life, it is existence. 

Unless man looks upward, he will never 
ascend. 

The writer realizes that in many cases it is an 
extremely difficult matter to realize all this. 



success. 73 

Sometimes the laborer sees himself surround- 
ed by insurrmountable obstacles; everything ap- 
pears dark and forbidding. 

There is an example of just such a case in the 
Bible. 

Job, was a rich man and lost everything he 
had. 

To be poor, and have little hope of bettering 
one's condition is bad enough, but to be rich and 
then lose all is a hundred times worse, so that Job 
was in a worse condition than the poor laborer. 

He lost first his oxen, and before the messen- 
ger was through delivering the news to Job, 
another came and told him that his sheep had been 
destroyed, and before the second messenger had 
finished, a third came to tell of the loss of his 
camels, and before he had finished a fourth came 
with the news that his seven sons had been killed. 

Job was a very rich man, and he was the 
greatest man in the East. 

He owned seven thousand sheep, three thous- 
and camels, five thousand yoke of oxen, five 



74 LAW OF 

hundred asses, and lie was the master of a very- 
large household. 

The loss of all this property was enough to 
cause most men to lose faith in the power within, 
but Job doubted not one instant. 

Then came the affliction of boils. 

This coming as it did upon the other afflict- 
ions, caused Job's wife to doubt, but not so with 
Job. He recognized the power within, and knew 
that he was master still. 

He said: "For I know that my. redeemer 
liveth." 

He did not say "I think, "but he said "I know." 

If such complete reliance were placed in "the 
kingdom within" by the laborer, he would cease 
to be employed and would become the employer ; 
he would cease to be the slave of poverty, he 
would be the master of it. 

Job finally triumphed over his negative con- 
dition by his implicit confidence in the power 
within. He was restored to health, and wealth, 
and happiness. 

There is no character that better illustrates 



success. 75 

the result of complete reliance upon " the king- 
dom within, " than that of Job. 

Many people make the attempt to secure the 
knowledge, the self-trust, that is necessary to 
success, with the sole idea of becoming wealthy. 

But this is wrong, for the instruction is : ' 'But 
rather seek ye the Kingdom of God (the power 
within), and all these things shall be added unto 
you." 

If the reader is seeking for Truth for Truth's 
sake he will be rewarded, but if his effort is in- 
duced by the love of gold or power, he will find 
nothing but failure awaiting him, 

The average person wants the material result 
of such thought, rather than the thought itself. 

He strives first for the result, rather than for 
the power within. 

This is just the opposite to the proper course 
of procedure. The instruction, "Seek ye first 
the kingdom, etc." shows that the effort of the 
student must be first directed inward and not out- 
ward. 

This causes doubt in the minds of many, and 



76 LAW OF 

discouragement to others, which is the reason that 
more do not succeed. 

They want to get rich at once and with little 
effort, and if they cannot they think they are un- 
fortunate, or ' 'unlucky," as so many term it. 

The reader must first decide in his mind that 
he really desires wealth. 

Thousands of people are "dilly-dallying" 
around, believing that they are making an attempt 
to get rhh, who would give up all ideas of wealth if 
they had any idea of the effort that is required to 
obtain it. 

Everything worth having in this world is 
expensive; it costs something. 

Most people realize this in a material way, 
but when it comes to striving for power or success, 
for a knowledge of the power within, which 
means wealth, health and all other things, they 
want something for nothing; they want to be 
wealthy without an effort. 

Success never comes to these, failure is their 
lot. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

"I feel and grieve, but by the grace of God I fret at 
nothing. " John Wesley. 

"Anxiety never yet bridged over any chasm." 

Kuffini. 

"The cheerful live longest in years, and afterward in 
our regard. ' ' Bovee. 

"Wondrous is the strength of cheerfulness, altogether 
past calculation its powers of endurance. Efforts to be 
permanently useful must be uniformly joyous — a spirit all 
sunshine, graceful from very gladness, beautiful because 
bright. ' ' Carlyle. 

"This one sits shivering in fortune's smile, 
Taking his joy with bated, doubtful breath ; 

This.other, gnawed by hunger, all the while 
Laughs in the teeth of death.' 1 

Aldrich. 



Said Socrates: "All men have their different 
objects of ambition, — horses, dogs, money, honor, 
as the case may be; but for my part I would 
rather have a good friend than all these put 
together. ' ' 



78 LAW OF 

It is necessary that men have friends in this 
world, even if viewed purely from the commercial 
side. 

Friends are those who send us positive 
thoughts, who are glad to see us succeed, and 
who are willing to aid us in whatever way they 
can. 

Every man has some friends, although it is 
almost impossible to tell who they really are until 
they have been tried. 

Cicero said: "As to the value of other things 
men must differ; concerning friendship, all have 
the same opinion." 

"What can be more foolish than, when men 
are possessed of great influence by their wealth, 
power and resources, to procure other things 
which are bought by money, — horses, slaves, rich 
apparel, costly vases, — and not to procure friends, 
the most valuable, the fairest furniture of life?' ' 

In the present age of sharp competition and 
sharp methods, a friend may very often assist us 
at a time when a little aid may bring large results. 

It is not good policy by any means to lean 



success. 79 

upon friends, for such a policy has but one result, 
— failure. 

But in some cases such a policy is not only of 
assistance, but shows judgment above the average. 

A man to be independent and self-reliant does 
not need to refuse assistance at all times and 
under all circumstances. 

It is a poor general who refuses reinforce- 
ments, be the enemy ever so small. 

A man to be a success in every sense of the 
word must have friends, because they are one of 
the marks of success. 

The man who is universally hated, is hardly 
a success, be he ever so wealthy. 

It is well to have many friends, and the student 
should make as many as he possibly can. 

To make friends, true friends, requires the 
employment of all the elements of success. 

He who makes friends makes success. 

There is nothing so ennobling as the making of 
friends, for all the good and noble qualities of man 
must be brought forward, and the bad thrust 



80 LAW OF 

back ; this will tend to better the character, no 
matter how bad it may be. 

Enemies, the opposite of friends, are some- 
thing that every man has, no matter how good he 
may be, and no matter how hard he may strive to 
b9 friendly with everyone. 

An enemy is not such a misfortune after all, 
if they are used properly. 

Some great man said to a young man who 
came to him for advice : " Young man, you have 
too many friends, get some enemies." 

This must certainly have been an extreme 
case, for few people have too many friends and if 
a man is at all successful he does not have to look 
far for some enemies. 

Enemies are those who send upon us negative 
thoughts. 

A. negative thought, if met by a positive one, 
can do no possible harm. 

If man thinks positive thoughts, these nega - 
tive thoughts simply keep him on the lookout ; 
they prevent him from sleeping at his post, and 



SUCCESS. 81 

they thus act as the spur to the race horse, an in- 
strument that drives him to victory. 

No man can continue to think positive 
thoughts and not become whatever he chooses to 
be, hence if he is kept on the alert, is forced to 
think positive thoughts in order to protect him- 
self from the negative thoughts of his enemies, 
these same negative thoughts are really friends. 

It is easy, however, to view these thoughts 
differently, to submit to them; to think negative 
thoughts; that is, thoughts of fear, of poverty, of 
sickness, etc., and thus make of them real enemies 
that will drag the poor weak creature upon whom 
they are thrown, down deeper into the mire of 
false beliefs and failure. 

Cheerfulness will do much to assist one to 
success; more than many would think. 

A cheerful disposition has tided many men, 
in an indirect way, over circumstances that would 
bring failure to him who was morose. 

Cheerfulness destroys worry, the great enemy 
of the business man. 

Hundreds of business men every year under- 



82 LAW OF 

mine their constitutions, and eventually destroy 
their health by worrying over their business 
affairs. 

There is nothing that will so quickly incapac- 
itate a man for business as worry. 

Worry is a form of doubt. No such condition 
can come over a man if he is confident of success. 

It is impossible to reason correctly, to think 
good, positive thoughts, if the mind is clouded at 
the same time by worry. 

A condition of cheerfulness must be assumed 
and maintained, even if nothing else but this can 
be accomplished. 

When cheerfulness is in power the bright side 
of things appear, the mind is clear and fearless, 
intelligent effort is possible, which means success. 

A man with a cheerful disposition will always 
command a higher salary than he who is not so 
blest. 

He carries with him an air that makes every- 
one glad to see him approaching. 

When people are glad to see a man, he finds 
little difficulty in transacting his business. 



success. 83 

What kind of a traveling salesman would a 
man make if he was gloomy in his very appear- 
ance? 

The traveling salesmen of this country, as a 
class, are the jolliest men on earth. They can tell 
more funny stories, and laugh heartier at another's 
story than any one else. 

It is a part of their business, their stock in 
trade, and they are the finest business men in the 
land, many of them. 

A good salesman will nearly always turn out 
to be a successful man, for he lays a foundation 
when traveling that gives him the advantage over 
him who has not traveled. 

Cheerfulness should be cultivated, if it is not 
natural, for it builds up its possessor as well as 
those around him. It is a magnet that draws to 
itself much that is good. 

A good maxim to follow is: "Do not worry; 
be cheerful." 



(6) 



CHAPTER IX. 

" Character is power,-— is influence; it makes friends; 
creates friends; draws patronage and support; and opens a 
sure and easy way to wealth, honor and happiness." 

Hawes. 

"As there is nothing in the world great but man, 
there is nothing truly great in man but character." 

Eyarts. 

" Character must stand behind and back up everything, 
— the sermon, the poem, the picture, the play. None of 
them is worth a straw without it." 

Holland. 

"Character is the diamond that scratches every other 
stone." 

Bartol. 

" The good mannered can do without riches; all doors 
fly open to them, and they enter everywhere without money 
and without price." 

"Conduct is three-fourths of life," 

Arnold. 

" 1 learnt that nothing can constitute good breeding 
that has not good nature for its foundation." 

Bulwer. 



The man who desires to be successful must 



SUCCESS. 85 

have good habits, both from a moral and a physical 
sense. 

Character is absolutely necessary to success. 

No man can be at his best if he drinks stimu- 
lants, gambles, or otherwise leads an immoral life. 

There are, of course, exceptions to all rules, 
but there are very few exceptions to this one. 

Some men seem to succeed in spite of the life 
they lead, but it is only reasonable to believe that 
if they make a success of their business when 
much of their energy is wasted in dissipation, that 
they would become men of note if they lead moral 
lives and thus put the energy that was wasted into 
their business efforts. 

A habit is much easier acquired than thrown 
off. 

Man is so constituted that once he does a 
thing, he finds it easier to do a second time. 

What may at first be exceedingly disagreeable, 
gradually becomes agreeable, and finally necessary. 

Few men enjoyed their first smoke. 

The appearance of him who has just smoked 
his first cigar would lead one to believe that he 



86 LAW OF 

would never smoke again, and if asked as to his 
intentions he would probably say that never again 
would he touch tobacco. 

But the next attempt is not so disagreeable, 
and what at first was extremely disagreeable, 
soon becomes a pleasure and finally a necessity. 

So all habits are formed. At first they amount 
to little, but soon they become a part of him who 
has acquired them. 

No man believes that he will form the whiskey 
habit when he takes his first drink. 

Few have any idea of becoming gamblers 
when they make their first bet. 

Too much care cannot be exercised in regard 
to the foundation of habits. 

The time to exercise the care is before the habit is j 
acquired, and not after. 

This is not intended to be a discourse on the 
subject of morals, but too much stress cannot be 
laid upon the injunction, avoid bad habits of all 
kinds. 

On the other hand, there are many good 
habits which should be formed. 



success. 87 

There is one striking difference between good 
and bad habits, viz : man drifts almost uncon- 
sciously into a bad habit, but he must force him- 
self into a good one. 

After the good habit has once been formed, 
however, it is just as easy to follow it as a bad 
one. 

There are so many of each kind, that the 
author will not make an attempt to discuss them 
in a book of this size, but will leave such discus- 
sion to a more able pen. 

There is one habit, however, that must be 
considered under the title of this book, and that is 
punctuality. 

Nothing is more characteristic of a good busi- 
ness man, than the faculty of always being on 
time. 

Time is one of the few things that places a 
limit to man's attainments, so far as this life is 
concerned, and he who makes the best use of his 
time will accomplish the most. 

So often the remark, " I haven't time, " is 
heard, but all men have twenty-four hours in each 



88 LAW OF 

day and night, and it is simply a question as to 
how these hours are used that limits the day's 
work. 

If things that come to hand are put off until 
later, it usually results in a rush of work toward 
the close of the day, and the cry is " I haven't 
time! " 

Few men are so busy they couldn't accomplish 
a good deal more in a given time than they do, if 
they would work steadily. 

It is the postponing of this and that, which 
makes the rush of business every now and then 
that is so wearing upon the constitution 

Thousands of business men all over the country 
rush out from their offices at the noon hour, bolt a 
few mouthful's of food, and rush back again. 
This they call lunch. 

The result of such practice is the shortening 
of their lives by two or three years, probably 
more. 

Not one out of a thousand of these men really 
needs to do this. By a little harder work during 
the morning, by a little closer application, fifteen 



SUCCESS. 89 

or twenty minutes could be added to the time 
taken for lunch, and the result would be beneficial 
in every way. Some men say to this, ' ' But time 
is money to me." This may be perfectly true, but 
money is not everything to any man. 

It is to some people, but to none who could be 
called men. 

u There is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at 
the flood, leads on to fortune; 

Omitted, all the voyage of their life, is bound in shal- 
lows and in miseries; 

And we must take the current when it serves, or lose 
our ventures.' ' 

" 'Tis never offered twice, sieze then the hour when 
Fortune smiles, and duty points the way ; 

Nor shrink aside to 'scape the spectre fear ; 

Nor pause though pleasure beckon from her bower, 

But bravely bear thee onward to the goal.'' 

In this day of hustle and hurry, the tide runs 
very rapidly and unless action is speedily taken 
the turn will be passed and the time for action 
gone. 

It never pays to procrastinate. 



90 LAW OF 

"Procrastination is the thief of time." 

He who puts off until tomorrow that which 
should be done today, puts off until tomorrow a 
part of the success for which he is striving. 

It is always easier to do a thing when it first 
appears than at any other time, because it is a law 
of business that everything should be done at the 
earliest possible moment. 

The time to do a thing is when you first think 
of it; if you don't, you have increased instead of 
decreased your labor. 

The only way to follow such a course success- 
fully, however, is to do your own thinking. 

If someone else thinks for you, you cannot fol- 
low your inclinations with confidence. 

The value of time, as the value of money, is 
very little understood as a general thing. 

A few minutes time, now and then, amounts 
to but little, but in a year it amounts to a good 
deal. 

A few minutes each day, if properly applied, 
give very substantial results in a year or two. 



SUCCESS. 91 

Many men have educated themselves by 
utilizing their spare moments. 

Many youug men all over the country spend 
their evenings in "killing time." 

Time does not need to be "killed," it dies a 
"natural death" soon enough. 

If the evenings devoted to cards, to billiards, 
to dances, to novels, etc., were occupied in the pre- 
paration for important ppsitions, there would be 
plenty of good men to fill good positions, whereas 
they are hard to find. 

The writer does not mean by this that he be- 
lieves the above named amusements are morally 
bad; he does not intend to formulate a moral code 
for any one; each must do that for himself, but 
cards, billiards, etc., do not make a man success- 
ful in business, and to teach this is the object of 
this book. 

Neither does the writer mean to imply that 
the young man should never spend his evenings 
in seeking pleasure; but to social dissipation at 
night can be traced the downfall of hundreds of 
young men. 



92 LAW OF 

The idea that an employer has no control over 
his employee's time, outside of business hours is 
erroneous. 

He has every right to require that this time 
be not spent in a way that will injure his business. 

He places certain responsibilities in the hands 
of his employees in order to give himself more time 
for other matters, and paying for the privilege he 
has the right to see that he gets value received. 

It is in the happy medium that the successful 
man is found. 

A certaim amount of social diversion is nec- 
essary to every well balanced individual. 

To come in contact with the world, in a social 
way, is broadening. 

Some one has said: "To know people, you 
must see them at play.'' 

The mind needs a rest every little while, and 
if it does not receive it, it refuses to work as it 
should. 

" All work and no play, makes Jack a dull 
boy. " 

The trouble is, the average young man reasons : 



success. 93 

that if this is true, the more play he has the 
brighter "Jack" will become. In this he is sadly 
mistaken. 

Some people require more amusement than 
others. This is because of their dispositions. 

As to the amount of time he can afford to 
spend in amusement, each one must decide for him- 
self, but there is far more danger of taking too 
much time than not enough. 

Few people are injured because of the lack of 
amusement. 

The question of society is one that comes to 
every young man arid must be well considered. 

There are certain benefits to be derived from 
mingling with our fellows for pleasure's sake, 
which are of great assistance in even a financial 
way. 

The young man who has good manners, who 
is at ease when in the presence of others, will find 
that he has a wonderful advantage over those who 
are not so fortunate. 

Good manners are the first requirement for a 
good impression, and a good impression is one of 



94 LAW OF 

the requirements of success, whatever the object 
striven for may be. 

Good manners can be obtained in but one 
place, in society. 

No matter how thoroughly books of etiquette 
may be studied, no matter how much thought may 
be placed upon the subject, unless the young man 
mingles with others he cannot acquire good man- 
ners. 

He has simply theory without practice. 

The theory of good manners amounts to noth- 
ing; the practice of them, everything. 

If the reader has not good manners, and he 
should be able to judge for himself, he must ac- 
quire them, and then practice them constantly. 



CHAPTER X. 

"Bad debts are the cankers of commerce. " 

The Author. 

" Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or 
what is heaven for? ' ' 

Browning. 

"Too low they build, who build beneath the stars." 

Young. 

" Endeavor to be first in thy calling, whatever it may 
be ; neither let anyone go before thee in well doing." 



There is one fault that many have, who would 
otherwise be successful in the business world, and 
that is of needlessly going in debt. 

Of all the runious, health destroying, mind 
weakening, soul crushing mistakes that man can 
make, this is beyond all doubt the worst. 

It is worse than whisky, morphine, gambling, 
or anything else, to the business man. 

It at once precludes all hope of success, and 
means not only failure, but worse. 



96 LAW OP 

Bad debts are the cankers of commerce. 

There is one rule which, if followed, will 
make the accumulation of debts an impossibility; 
it is, never go in debt yourself, nor allow anyone 
to become indebted to you. 

This is a difficult principle to follow, but like 
all things that are difficult of accomplishment, it 
is worth doing. 

If all men exercised judgment in regard to the 
matter of debts, such a rule would be unnecessary. 

There are times when to borrow money would 
be a good business policy, but unless the reader 
has proven himself to be one of the few who can 
exercise good judgment in such matters, it would 
be well for him to avoid debts altogether. 

The habit of saving should be acquired early 
in life, and once formed is almost certain to shield 
one from privation and want later in life. 

Without careful consideration of the matter, 
the average man has no idea how rapidly an in- 
dependent fortune can be accumulated by small 
daily savings. 



success. 97 

A few figures are here given, which will give 
some idea of how rapidly money accumulates. 

"The figures show what would be the result 
at the end of fifty years, by saving a certain 
amount each day, and putting it at interest at six 
per cent. 

One cent, $950. Ten cents, $9,504. Twenty 
cents, $19,006. Thirty cents, $28,512. Forty cents, 
$38,015. Fifty cents, $47,520. Sixty cents, 
$57,024. Seventy cents, $66,528. Eighty cents, 
$74,032. Ninety cents, $85,537. One dollar, 
$95,041. Five dollars, $475,208." 

The average man wastes in the first thirty 
years of his life enough to make him rich if it were 
deposited in a safe place at a fair rate of interest. 

Five men out of every ten, spend ten cents a 
day for tobacco, and this sum, if properly applied, 
would in a few years reach such proportions as to 
assure the necessities of life for many years. 

Too many people want to save dollars where 
they are only able to save pennies. They think 
that if their savings are small, there is no use in 
trying to save. 



98 LAW OP 

This is a grave error, and a study of the 
figures submitted above will prove conclusively 
that it pays to save, no matter how small the 
amount may be. 

" Save something all the time, if it be but five 
cents a week, and you will some day be a wealthy 
man, " was the statement of one of the greatest 
financiers this country has ever produced. 

In all men the desire for something must be 
present in order to make the attainment a possi- 
bility. 

Desire is the seed from which attainment 
springs. 

It is the spring from which flow 7 s all that is 
good or bad, for without it no effort will ever be 
made to accomplish anything. 

The strongest desires are always the first to 
be made manifest in a material way, which means 
that what we want the most we can have the first. 

He who has a strong desire for wealth will not 
fail to attain it if he but trusts the powers within. 

He must learn how to do this by study and by 



success. 99 

experiment, and he must study it with the desire 
to know the truth. 

It is usually the case that the material result 
of such knowledge — wealth — is what is thought of 
and studied about, instead of the law itself. 

It is much like the young school boy who looks 
to see what the answer is to his problem, and then 
with that constantly in mind works for the answer, 
and not for a knowledge of the principles involved. 

Such study never brings knowledge, be it in 
the study of mathematics or of the laws govern- 
ing the life and existence of man. 

Solomon chose wisdom, and by so doing ac- 
quired the right to everything else. 

He did not choose wealth, neither did he have 
wealth in mind when he chose wisdom, but he was 
the possessor of untold millions because he under- 
stood the law. 

An understanding of the law means the attain- 
ment of all the law controls. 

Without an understanding of the law, limited 
accumulation is possible, but there is certain to 
come a time when this accumulation will cease. 

(7) 

Lore. 



100 LAW OF 

The reader may ask himself, "Can I, poor, 
weak I, learn how to use this all powerful law?" 

Every one can learn to comply with the law, 
but he must drive from his mind the idea of being 
weak and being insignificant. 

Some may decide to attempt to gain a knowl- 
edge of the law, to learn how to comply with it, 
and then do so whenever their finances begin to 
diminish. 

Such a spirit as this will not bring success. 

The law must be understood, must be com- 
plied with constantly, in order to bring real suc- 
cess. 

The course here outlined is no short cut to 
success. 

Understand the law and receive whatever you 
desire, is easy to say, but that does not mean that* 
it is easy to do. 

But the student now asks, "What is this law 
you are talking about?" 

It is the Law or power that created the uni- 
verse. 

This Law, or Power, or God, by whatever 



SUCCESS. . 101 

name it is called, is the only power in existence. 

It is in every man, to be called upon and used 
whenever he sees fit. 

But so far as using it is concerned, the average 
man is as powerless to use it, because of his neg- 
ative condition, as though no such power existed. 

Before the Law can be understood, man must 
assert his authority, his kingship. 

He must deny his weaknesses, he must believe 
in himself, and not in an outside force, nor a far- 
off God. 

'•The Kingdom of heaven is within you." 
Not far away in the measureless depths of space. 

The question of how to assert his authority is 
one that comes to every one who has read this 
'chapter. 

This is done by first denying the negative 
conditions that surround us. These conditions 
are, sin, sickness, death, poverty, etc. 

These conditions are evil, or negative, which 
is the same thing. 

Every one is willing to admit the evil in these 



102 LAW OF 

conditions, but few will say that there is no power 
in evil. 

The race has so long been weighted down with 
erroneous beliefs in the power of evil, that the 
statement "there is no power in evil" is received 
with frowns and sneers. 

Nevertheless, evil has no power ; it is a nega- 
tive condition ; that is, it is nothing. 

Evil is simply the absence of good. 

Darkness is nothing ; it is simply the absence 
of something. 

Light is a force, a power, a something, but 
darkness is none of these. 

So the belief in his weakness, in his inferior- 
ity, must be laid aside, must be denied by man. 

Evil, the absence or ignorance of good, is its 
own punishment. 

A man's ignorance of his power to obtain 
whatever he desires is its own punishment. The 
condition of poverty, which is the inevitable result 
of such a belief, is punishment enough. 

Ignorance in all its forms shuts man out from 
a knowledge of the Law ; it leaves him in blackest 



SUCCESS. 103 

night, where the light of truth — knowledge of the 
Law — never shines, and he grops blindly along, 
holding the belief constantly that he is poor, and 
weak, and sinful. 

Evil in every form must be denied. 

' * There is no evil " should be the statement 
made to one's self, time and time again. 

The denial will, in a short time, begin to have 
its effect. 

The belief in error of all kind will begin to 
weaken and melt away before this assertion, as 
mists dissolve before the rays of the sun. 

The poor doubting Thomas, who believes only 
that which the majority believes, who allows 
others to decide for him what he shall be, should 
try for two weeks the denial above stated. He 
should decide to be himself for two weeks, and to 
allow no outside force to control him. 

The result of such a decision will, in seventy- 
five per cent of the cases, prove startling. 

As the heretofore poor, weak thing, that has 
been called a man, begins to find that he has 
within himself unlimited powers, that he is really 



104 LAW OF 

master, and the equal of those whom he has al- 
ways believed to be his superiors, he will indeed 
be startled, but as the writer knows from per- 
sonal experience, the sensation is not unpleasant. 

Many times the student will seem to be retro- 
grading, instead of progressing, but if he will 
maintain his position firmly, he will soon find that 
he is not retrograding, but that he is really as- 
cending to a higher plane. 

After denials, affirmations come, and here it 
is that the student begins to manifest the power 
that is in him, and which he is beginning to recog- 
nize. 

Denials have really placed the student in a 
condition to make affirmations ; they have caused 
him to recognize enough of his latent power to 
make a real, positive assertion. 

Having denied all evil, the student is in a con- 
dition to assert the omnipresence of good. 

He is ready to say, "All is good ; I am good." 

This means the assertion of power, for good 
is not a negative condition, but a most positive 
one, and it brings its own reward. 



SUCCESS. 105 

Having asserted that all is good, that he him- 
self is good, the student has then come into an 
agreement with the Law. 

He has asserted his oneness with it, and has 
asserted his power thereby. 

The Law is all-powerful, omipresent, omni- 
scient, and since the student has come to realize 
that he is one with the Law, he has come to 
realize that he is omnipotent, omnipresent and 
omnicient. 

Such statements as these will tend to lash in- 
to fury the old race beliefs, that has such a deep 
hold upon us. 

Many cannot bring themselves to the point of 
laying aside these old ideas, and as a consequence 
many cannot rise from the low plane of ignorance 
and superstition upon which they exist. 

Many who believe themselves to be living 
almost perfect lives, are really in the lowest 
depths of ignorance. 

They lift their hands to heaven, when the 
power of man is mentioned, and say it is sacrilege 
to speak of man as master. 



106 LAW OP 

Such, however, was the teaching of Christ, 
and He it was who stated that if man came into an 
agreement with this Law, he would receive what- 
ever he desired. He made the statement in such 
positive terms that it cannot be taken two ways. 

The way to come into a recognition, or agree- 
ment, with the Law, then, is plain: first, by 
denial; the denying of weakness in every form, 
such as sin, poverty, sickness, etc. ; second, by 
affirmation; the affirming of power, of the kingship 
of self. 

He who doeth these things shall be richly re- 
warded; he will bless the day this little book fell 
into his hands. 

If he does not do, or attempt to do them, he 
will receive no benefit from this work. 

In the doing and not in the reading of what is 
contained herein, lies the reward which all are 
seeking to obtain. 

Bok, in his little book, "The Young Man in 
Business," says: "No one conversant with the 
business life of any of our large cities can, it 



SUCCESS. 107 

seems to me, even for a single moment doubt the 
existence of the chances for a young man." 

"Take New York as a fair example. There, 
exist more opportunities than there are young 
men capable of embracing them." 

"The demand is far in excess of the supply." 

"Positions of trust are constantly going beg- 
ging for the right kind of young men to fill them. " 

"But the material doesn't exist, or if it does, it 
certainly has a most unfortunate way of hiding 
its light under a bushel; so much so that business 
men cannot even see a glimmer of its rays." 

"Let a position of any real importance become 
open, and it is the most difficult kind of a problem 
to find any one to fill it satisfactory." 

"Business men are constantly passing through 
this experience." 

"Young men are desired in the great majority 
of positions, because of their progressive ideas 
and capacity to endure work; in fact, "young 
blood, ' as it is called, is preferred in nine positions 
out of ten nowadays." 

"The chance for business success with any 



108 LAW OP 

young man is not wanting. The opportunities 
exist, plenty of them." 

This is a statement of the situation exactly; 
the opportunities exist, but the material to fill 
them does not. 

On every hand is heard the cry, "If I only had 
the opportunity. " 

The business man says, "If you could only 
take advantage of the opportunity." 

The trouble with those who aspire to busi- 
ness success lies in the fact that they are not pre- 
pared to accept the opportunities. 

If the names of those who have had the op- 
portunity to make a business success, but could 
not accept it because of lack of preparation, were 
known and printed in a book, it would require a 
volumn a thousand times the size of this one. 

Lack of preparation is one of the great stumb- 
ling blocks to those who seek success. 

A business man of many years' experience 
told the writer that there were hundreds of good 
situations all over the country that were held 
by men, who, as he expressed it, "rattle in their 



SUCCESS. 109 

positions. " * 'What we want, '' he continued, " is 
young men who will fill these places so chuck full 
there will be no rattling." 

Another business man who is at the head of a 
large establishment in St. Louis said he had a 
position in his establishment that paid $3,000.00 a 
year salary, and the man who was holding it was 
not capable, but was retained because a better one 
could not be found. 

^ This is indeed a startling situation. 

Many will be unwilling to believe that in this 
free country where every man has an equal chance, ' 
where so many are out hunting positions, there 
can be so many good places that are not filled at 
all, but are simply held by incompetent men until 
one who is prepared presents himself, neverthe- 
less investigation will prove that it is true. 

The writer has had considerable experience 
in employing stenographers, and he finds that 
about one in twenty that applies for a position is 
really able to hold it. 

This is all wrong. The young man who starts 
out to find a position before he is prepared is try- 



110 LAW OP 

ing to get something for nothing. He is hunting 
for a short cut to success, but he will hunt in vain. 

He who prepares himself for the opportuni- 
ties which are certain to arise, is making for him- 
self success. 

It is too late to prepare for them after they 
arrive; it must be done before hand. 

The saying, "In time of peace prepare for 
war," may well be applied to opportunities, and 
the only safe course is to prepare for them "in 
times of peace. " 

"What a simple course to follow, but how few 
follow it! 

Opportunities come to every man. If they 
do not come it is the fault of the man. 

Opportunities follow the preparation for them 
as naturally as effect follows cause. They can be 
made in only one way, and that is by preparation 
for them. 

The preparation makes the opportunity. 

Many readers may imagine that they cannot 
carry out the instructions laid down in this little 
work, because of a lack of education. 



SUCCESS. Ill 

Education, as has already been stated, never 
made any man successful. 

While an education may prove of inestimable 
benefit, still without it success may be attained. 

Education is not learning in the true sense of 
the word, by any means. 

Some of the best educated young men in the 
country are the least learned. 

There is such a thing as an educated fool, and 
this species of fool is the worst imaginable. 

Lincoln was a great man, a successful man, 
but he was not a highly educated man by any 
means. * 

Some of the greatest financiers the world has 
ever produced were not educated men. 

There are many young men out of work in this 
country who have better educations than some of 
our railroad presidents or some of our bank presi- 
dents. 

There is no real reason in the majority of cases 
why there should be a lack of education. 

Pew men are so busy they cannot devote 
thirty minutes or an hour to study of some kind. 



112 LAW OF 

There are many schools of mail instruction 
that give a thorough course which can be studied 
at home during hours of leisure. 

To those who work all day a course of night 
study is very hard work, but an education cannot 
be gained without labor of the hardest kind. In 
the end, however, the reward is great, and the 
student will be repaid a thousand fold, for his 
efforts 

In regard to the value of a college education 
there is some room for argument, but there is no 
question that it is not absolutely necessary. 

One writer has said, "A young man need not 
feel that the lack of a college education will 
stand in any respect whatever in the way of his 
success in the business world." 

No college on earth ever made a business man. 

The knowledge acquired in a college has fitted 
thousands of men for professional success, but it 
has also unfitted thousands of others for a practical 
business career. 

A college training is never wasted, although 1 



SUCCESS. 113 

have seen again and again five-thousand dollar 
educations spent on five-hundred dollar men. 

When a young man can bring a college 
education to the requirements of a practical busi- 
ness knowledge, it is an advantage. 

I have had associated with me both kinds of 
young men; collegiate, and non-collegiate, and I 
must confess that the ones who had a better 
knowledge of the practical part of life have been 
those who never saw the inside of a college and 
whose feet never stood upon a campus. 

The men occupying the most important com- 
mercial positions in New York to-day are self-made 
men, whose only education has come to them from 
contact with that greatest college of all, "the 
business world." 

This statement from a successful business 
man gives the reader a good idea of the business 
man's idea of a college education, 



CHAPTER XI. 

"To business that we love, we rise betimes, 
And go to it with delight. ' ' Shakespeare. 

"The highest prize of life, the crowning fortune of 
man, is to be born with a bias to some pursuit, which finds 
him in employment and happiness." Emekson. 

"If you choose to represent the various parts in life by 
holes in a table of different shapes — some circular, some 
triangular, some square, some oblong— and the persons 
acting these parts by bits of wood of similar shapes, we 
shall generally find that the triangular person has got into 
the square hole, the oblong into the triangular, while the 
square person has squeezed himself into the round hole." 

Sydney Smith. 

"I hear a voice you cannot hear, 

Which says I must not stay; 
I see a hand you cannot see, 

Which beckons me away." 

Tickell. 



If possible the young man should enter the 
occupation he intends to follow early in life. 

This is not always possible, because so many 



SUCCESS. 115 

have no idea of the line of work they really desire 
to take up. 

The choice of an occupation is of great im- 
portance, and should be carefully considered be- 
fore a decision is made. 

Thousands make the mistake of getting into 
the wrong place and realizing it too late. 

When such a realization comes, however, the 
occupation should be changed, if there is any pos- 
sibility of a change. 

No man can hope to reach the highest success 
in a profession he does not like. It is hard enough 
to excel in that which one likes or to which one is 
especially adapted, without attempting that which 
is otherwise. 

Choose a profession that is agreeable and de- 
vote all your time and attention to it, bringing all 
your abilities into play, and you will be certain to 
progress and excel the average man in that parti- 
cular profession. 

The sooner one begins to work for self, the 

(8) 



116 LAW OF 

better, for then all the energy expended is expend- 
ed for self. 

A great deal has been said in the foregoing 
pages about positions, because many young men, 
in fact the majority of them, are forced to work 
for some one else before they enter business for 
themselves. 

The writer decided early in life to work for 
himself whatever the cost might be, and at first he 
did not make anything like the financial success 
he had made when working as an employee. 

In time, however, the energy he put forth be- 
gan to have its effect, and he gradually increased 
his income, until now it is far in excess of what he 
could earn by working for some one else. 

There is a faculty which some people have, 
and all should have, and that is the faculty of 
making stepping stones to success out of failures. 

Many people are constantly making the same 
mistake over and over again. 

This is a fault that will keep any one, no 
matter what his ability may be, from attaining 
success. 



SUCCESS. 117 

It is not the man who never makes mistakes 
who is successful; in fact there are no such men, 
but it is he that profits by his errors who finally 
wins the reward for which he is striving. 

It is often said that experience is a hard 
teacher. 

This is true in some cases only, for he who 
learns by experience that a certain thing is in- 
correct and does not trust that same thing again, 
will have a comparatively easy time. 

But he who makes the same mistake again and 
again will find that the punishment is greater each 
time. 

' ' He that profiteth not by experience, is not 
wise.'' 

The habit of observing closely everything pre- 
sented is one of incalculable benefit. 

It is by observation that the mind is furnished 
with its first ideas. 

Observation in this sense does not mean simply 
the seeing of a thing. 

It means listening intently, looking intently, 



118 LAW OF 

and means the concentration of the mind upon 
whatever is brought before it for inspection. 

Many opportunities for gaining valuable in- 
formation are thrown away for lack of observation 
or close attention. 

Lack of attention is the cause of nine-tenths 
of the bad memories which are so common. 

Inability to remember names is usually the 
result of inattention at the time of introduction. 

Many young men make a grave mistake by 
reading too little. 

There is no more profitable habit in existence 
than that of reading. 

By reading one gets the ideas of thinkers, 
after all superfluous matter has been cleared away. 

The ideas are presented in a clear concise 
manner, that enables one to take advantage of the 
experiences and researches of others as is possible 
in no other way. 

The advanced stage of intelligence that is 
characteristic of the present day, is possible only 
because of books. 

However, a great amount of reading does not 



SUCCESS. 119 

necessarily imply a great amount of information. 

Unless the best authors are read, and unless 
the reading is done carefully, it is possible to 
waste a large amount of time upon books. 

Some books are best left unread. The yellow 
back novel has done as much harm as many other 
things that are considered worse. 

A dime novel is worse than a glass of whiskey 
because its effects last so much longer. 

The average person reads far too rapidly. 
The mind does not have time to digest what has 
been read, and the subject matter of each book is 
forgotten as soon as another is taken up. 

Nothing will pay a richer reward than the 
careful reading of good books, but reading, as 
everything else, must be carefully and thought- 
fully done. 

Another source from which much valuable in- 
formation may be obtained is from lectures. 

A writer once heard a noted educator state 
that when he was getting his education he made it 
a point to attend every lecture that was given in 



120 LAW OP 

his city, and he also said that he now regarded his 
course as an extremely wise one. 

There are many ways of obtaining information 
that will prove valuable, but enough has been said 
along this line to give the reader a good idea of 
what he can do for himself. 

All the information that may be gleaned from 
books, from observation, from lectures, etc., will 
prove of no assistance unless each appropriates 
such information to himself. 

It must be weighed carefully in the mind, and 
then each must rely upon himself to apply it. 

No matter what line of thought we may be fol- 
lowing in regard to success, when we trace it back 
to its foundation principle we find it to be self- 
reliance. 

No matter how much knowledge a man may 
possess, he must rely upon himself to put it into 
practice; no one else can do it for him. 

From this it will be seen that every chapter in 
this book, w T hile it is not headed with the word 
" self-reliance, '' is really nothing more than a form 
of it. 



SUCCESS. 121 

"Know thyself, for within thyself are all thy 
powers; from without there is naught." 

Anderson said, "It is not the men who have been 
reared in affluence who have left the most endur- 
ing traces on the world." 

It is not in the sheltered garden or the hot- 
house, but on the rugged Alpine cliffs, w T here the 
storms beat most violently, that the toughest plants 
are reared. 

Men who are trained to self-reliance are ready 
to go out and contend in the sternest conflicts of 
life, while those who have always leaned for sup- 
port on others are never prepared to breast the 
storms of adversity that arise. 

Self-reliance is more than a passive trust in 
one's own powers. It shows itself in an active 
manner; it demonstrates itself in works. 

It is not ashamed of its pretensions, but in- 
vites inspection and asks recognition. Confidence 
of success is almost success, and obstacles often 
fall of themselves before a determination to over- 
come them. 

"There is something in confidence that has an 



122 LAW OF 

influence beyond itself, and it marches on like a 
mighty lord among his slaves; all is prostrated 
where it appears." 

Every young man should cultivate the faculty 
of expressing himself well. There is no more po- 
tent aid to success than this. 

He who can say just what he desires to say, 
who can convey the exact idea to his listener that 
he has in mind, has every advantage over those 
who are unable to do this. 

To talk well is a valuable accomplishment, no 
matter the sphere in which one lives. 

There is of course such a thing as talking too 
much, but that does not detract from the value of 
knowing how to express one's thoughts. 

In talking business it is well to cultivate a di- 
rect manner of speech, which will enable the 
speaker to express himself in the fewest possible 
words. 

If the speaker will look steadily between the 
eyes of the listener he will succeed in making a 
much deeper impression than he otherwise would. 

By looking between the eyes, the gaze of the 



success. 123 

listener is avoided, while the effect upon him is 
the same as though he were being looked steadily 
in the eyes. 

One man told the writer that he would not 
take $5,000 for the knowledge of this simple in- 
struction. 

He stated that he had learned something of 
the wonderful advantage it gave him over those 
who possessed this secret. 

The manner of the successful man is always 
direct; he does not beat about the bush in conver- 
sation, but he comes immediately to the point. 
When walking upon the street he always walks as 
though he were going some where. 

If the reader is not by nature accustomed to 
acting in this way he should immediately begin to 
cultivate it. 

Be direct in manner, whatever the work may 
be. 



CONCLUSION. 

In conclusion the writer desires to impress 
more forcibly upon the mind of the reader that he 
can by a study of this little work, at least discover 
a few principles that will be of assistance in life. 

This book was not written to be read once 
through, but it was written to be studied. It is a 
text-book and should be studied just as though it 
were a text-book on the subject of mathematics. 

A thorough study of the principles taught 
herein will bring success. Of this the writer is 
certain, because he speaks not from a theoretical 
standpoint, but from experience; from actual trial. 

If the subject matter of this work does not 
cause the reader to form new resolutions to better 
his condition, if it does not cause him to realize 
that he has within himself the power to become 
whatever he may desire, it is the fault of the 
writer, and is not caused by the error of the prin- 
ciples involved. They are true, and as certain in 
their action as the law of gravitation. 



CONCLUSION. 125 

An attempt to demonstrate these principles 
will bring success, even though the reader may 
doubt their truth. 

If one-half of those who read these words will 
make an honest, earnest effort to demonstrate in 
their every day lives the teachings of this book, 
the author w T ill be more than satisfied, he will be 
delighted, for he knows that he will then be the 
cause of some people making successes of them- 
selves, when they would in all probability have 
failed had this little work not fallen into their 
hands. 

Reader, do not delay, but begin at once to 
demonstrate these teachings. 

Do not wait until to-morrow, but begin to-day. 
The only time you really have at your disposal is 
the present moment. 

Begin now, and with a firm resolve to prove 
the truth of what has been said, you will secure 
for yourself a reward that will exceed anything 
that you have ever dreamed of, even in the wild- 
est flights of your imagination, and you will begin 
to succeed; you will begin to realize your king- 



126 CONCLUSION. 

ship; you will begin to realize that "The Kingdom 
of Heaven is within you." 

"On the great clock of time there is but one word— 

NOW." 

"Who cannot but see oftentimes how strange the 
threads of our destiny run? Oft it is only for a moment 
the favorable instant is present. We miss it, and months 
and years are lost. ' ' 

"Let's take the instant by the forward top." 

Shakespeare. 

"Are you in earnest? Seize this very minute; 
What you can do, or dream you can, begin it." 



XLbc ^merican School 

rl - of flDaonetic Ibealing 

(Incorporated under the Laws of Missouri.) 

Prof. 5. A. Weltmer, Pres't. 

J. H. Kelly, Sec'y. NEVADA, MO., U. S. A. 

This school has been incorporated for the express 
purpose of imparting the Weltmer Method of Magnetic 
Healing. It is to-day the largest school of its kind in the 
world. Every known disease is treated without medicine, 
and some of the most remarkable curesof the century have 
been made at this institution. 

The success of the graduates of the American School 
of Magnetic Healing is phenomenal. Diplomas are grant- 
ed to every student who properly finishes the course of in- 
struction. Students all over the United States are making 
from $5 to $50 per day practicing this science. It is the 
best paying business of the age. 

Prices, circulars, and any information can be had by 
addressing 

PROF. S. A. WELTIIER, President, 
U. S. A. NEVADA, HO. 



AUG 23 3900 

BOOKS 

Published by Prof. S. A. Weltmer. 



REGENERATION. 

This book deals with the question of sex. Tells of the 
discovery by Prof. Weltmer of a secretion in the human 
body, a knowledge of how to form which, will regenerate 
the body and prolong life indefinitely. 

This book also treats of sexual decline and how to 
overcome it. It has created a decided sensation in the 
scientific world, and the sales of it have been enormous. It 
should be in the hands of every man and women, young or 
old. Price, revised and enlarged, $1.00. 

Self-Protection 25 

Is Prayer Ever Answered ? 25 

Who is a Christian . 25 

The Undying Character of Thought 25 

The Eternal Now 50 

PROF. S. A. WELTMER, 

'The American School of Magnetic Healing, 

Nevada, Mo., U. S. A. 



Suggestion Simplified. 

PROF. WELTMER'S LATEST BOOK. 

In this work the subject of Suggestion is presented in 
an entirely new light. Never before has a writer attempt- 
ed to explain what the power is that produces the phenom- 
ena, or how this power can be brought into action. 

It tells how and why everything is done; it tells how 
to treat the different diseases by Suggestion; it tells how to 
succeed in business; it gives more information on the sub- 
ject of Suggestion than any other book, and you can by 
studying it learn how to treat diseases in yourself 'as well as 
in others. 

It should be in every family, for it tells how children 
may be broken of bad habits, and how their thoughts may 
be directed into proper channels. 

It is the book you have been looking for; it is the 
book you need. 

The sale of this book has been greater than any other 
of Prof. Weltmer's writings. 

Price, handsomely bound in cloth, fully illustrated, 
$1,00 



